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What is it with people who leave their shopping carts in the checkout lane and just walk away with their packages (and by 'in the lane' I mean they themselves had to walk around it to get to their bags at the end of the lane)? Do they think some magic grocery fairy is going to come and move it for them? For anyone who wonders--when you leave your shopping cart directly in the checkout lane--THE PERSON BEHIND YOU HAS TO MOVE IT!
Get a freaking clue.
I took my car in today to get it worked on because lately when I use the turn signal the clicking sound continues even after the turn signal is off. But I actually ended up getting new brake pads and rotors on the front because it wasn't actually making the clicking sound today so they were mostly guessing what would fix it and, since the turn signal is working, and the brakes were clearly heading toward the not-working stage, it seemed the better choice. Of course, it also cost twice as much as fixing the turn signal.
And by the way, I hate with the mighty hate of a thousand suns, television sets in public waiting areas. Today I was, at least, smart enough to take my iPod with me and I still managed to see far more of Regis and Kelly (only with out Regis), the Price is Right, and the Young and the Restless than I really wanted to see. Although now I know what that guy from Project Runway looks like wearing Crocs, how much a pull-behind camper costs and that some guy I don't know is eloping to New Mexico with some woman I don't know (I mean, really, I'm assuming I heard wrong--who would elope to New Mexico?)
Also, my realtor told me that someone looked at my old house this week and is really interested, but wants to get their life in order first. My god, if I have to wait until someone has their life in order, the house may never sell.
Really, I don't know what the rules are, but here's one that I would put right up at the top if I were the person in charge of establishing rules:
Don't make your main character stupider than your readers
Unless you've established stupidity as a character trait then, maybe, you can get away with it. And even then your main character should 'get it' once they've been hit over the head with the obvious ten or fifteeen times.
Let's say, for example, that a murderer is kidnapping nannies in your neighborhood. One, you should actually get help for or listen to your crazy neighbor who is actually telling you obviously useful information before he gets himself shot in the head by police and his brains splattered all over you. And, also, at that point, you will sound totally stupid insisting that he's not the murderer (even tho the readers already totally know that he isn't) when he just threatened you with a gun, and you have already shown that you have absolutely no critical judgement ever. And, most important, the reason you don't believe he's the murderer (even though they just found body parts in his apartment)--because you just don't think he's the kind of guy who would do that--is not credible when he JUST THREATENED YOU WITH A GUN. You can have a reason but--I just don't think he would--is not a good reason at that point.
Also, if there are mass kidnapping/murders going on, you don't make your own nanny accept a ride home from a guy who's always just 'there' and who your nanny has already actually told you makes her uncomfortable. Oh yeah, and when the creepy guy next door is lurking in the basement of the psychiatric hospital (where you work so one would think you might have a bit of a clue about these things) and he says he's 'just waiting' for the radio personality psychiatrist because she's an 'old friend'. But he doesn't want her to know he was there or leave a note or go through the receptionist, he is totally stalking her!
There were things I liked about the setting and the writing and the non-stupid parts of the characters (the book, BTW, is The Nanny Murders by Merry someone who I'm too lazy to look up), but it just got to be too much--the main character's understanding basically driven by what the ending of the story demanded rather than what was actually written on the page.
Well, as you might have guessed, I have moved and am somewhat unpacked and mostly settled (though my old house still hasn't sold). I'll get some pictures up on Flickr (maybe tonight) of both just moved and mostly settled. Surprisingly, they don't actually resemble each other.
There's not much else to report. No writing news of note. No dog news of note. I'm in the process of revising The Whale's Lover (finally) and I've sort of started a new story called Interacting with the Neighbors on a Downward Slide to Hell which is not horror and probably doesn't involve Hell, but is, of course, totally spec-ficcy.
I also sent a bio to Sheila at Asimovs for Chainsaw on Hand, which will be in the March, 2007 issue.